Counting apparatus



May 23, 1950 L. NAMENYl-KATZ CQUNTING APPARATUS Filed April 3, 1945 'NVM/Toll LWN HTTonA/EYS Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED fara-Nr OFFICE ApplicationAprl 3, 1945',A Serial No.. 586,332 In Great Britain December 23', 1943-v 5. claims. (ci. zas-92) invention relates to. countingv apparatus and particularly to apparatusl for counting bank-notes;

According to this invention, a counting apparatusfisA arrangedy to be responsive to electrical impulses ofy different; amplitudes so as.; to add a number proportional tol the amplitude ofv the impulse, andi comprises a discriminator having a. number or responsive. devices subjected simulitaneously to; the same electrical` impulse, bu-t which are, so designed that differentresponsive devces; become operative. at different. minimum impulse strength, and which are so coupled to the counter that for differentimpulsestrength the extent or movement: imparted to thecounter is: determined by' that responsive device which would not have; become operative should the particularimpulse.- have been substantially weaker.

In the case.- where the. above arrangement is employedv for countingv bank-notes, if a succession oi? singleI bank-notes isA fed through the apparatus to` provide a succession of equalA impulses, thefsameresponsive.. device becomesoperative and the counter has.. imparted to it a, movement. ap.- propriate for.- recording a single unit. Should, however, a number of bank-notes be. passed sininiltaneouslsr through the. apparatus, they :are arrangedY toc generate an. impulse whose strength is proportional to. that number, as described in United States. patent-v application Serialf No. 586',- 333 filed April 3 13415 now Patent No. 2,414,156, whereupon a. ntnnber of said responsive devices become operativev simultaneouslyA and the. counter isi-moved to an extentproportional tothe strength ofthe. impulse..

The: aforesaidA responsive. devices may comprise electromagnets controlling said counter, and having diierent' resistances, which electromagnets are. connected in parallel with themeans for generating said impulses. Thus, one or more elecY troinagnets: are rendered operative, according to thestrength ofthe impulse..

The aforesaid responsive devices mayf be arranged. to` operate means for arresting a. rotatable dri-ving shait forthe. counter at: dineren-t. angillen? positions according to; the. number or" the responsive devices which have become-v operable, Whereby the extent of rotation of said shaft is proportional to-thelhnnulsestrength..

` The driving. Shaft ier' the counter may be driven through a slipping, clutch orthe; like by avr motor, and is provided. with a finger or the. like, and the:v arresting means may comprise abutment-s @sch movable into the, path of travel. or said 1in- .serba electromagnetic, means and the abutmonts 6.5'

and? electromagnetic means exceed in numberthe 'electromagnetic responsive devices by one and saidv electromagnetic means may be connected with an.v equal' number of evenily-spacedV brushes or the like fixed against rotation and engaging acommutator member rotating with the driving shaft. and having the same number of contacts as said responsive devices, but which contacts. are disposed? apart at the same angle as said brushes, twhichv contacts are connected through slip-rings 'and brushes, each with a pair of contacts controlled by one of saidV electromagnetic responsive .means and thence to a source of supply through .switch means` which are arranged to be Iclosed when the. finger engagesan abutment. By these means, in whatever position the aforesaid finger stops, the next impulse. received will movey the vappropriate abutment for permitting and limiting' the extent of rotation ofl the shaft in ac.- cordance with the strength of the next` impulse.

A. single. unit: impulse must necessarily' beV of .shorter duration than the time taken for movement of the finger between two adjacent abut- .ments in order that a succession of single unit impulses. mayy appropriately control the counter.

In the case, however, wherey the strength. of the: impulse ist such that a number ofthe responsive. devices. are rendered operative, it is neces- .sary to maintain the electromagnetic means energised until such time as the nger reaches the appropriate: abutment. This is effected by providing each electromagnetic means. with a holding: coil which is. placed in circuit with supply .means through a second commutator rotating with. the, driving shaft of' the counter, which sec- Iond commutator is provided with a number of .equally-spaced' brushes or thelikevconnected with 'the respective. electromagnetic means, and a. conducting segment; or*- the like so disposed and of such asize; that it' connects the appropriate holding coil in. circuit with the source. of supply after the, nger has: moved away from one; abutment shortly before. it about to, engage with. another abutment. Thisv arrangement enables. a number of such abutmentsv to be maintained' out of the pathv of the finger, although the. impulse is of' comparatively short duration. Also, in, the case.- of a number of. impulses of` unit. strength ,merging with Qne. another, it; enables the zrst said commutator to reach a new position where av fresh, circuit is established for moving the-suc.- ceed-ing abutment yclear of the.- finger, whereby the operating shat continues: to: rotate; untiithe impulse.has;ceased.,v s

The following a or. onetorm. ci

construction according to this invention, reference being made to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing some of the details of construction of the apparatus and indicating some of the wiring; and

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram for the novel apparatus.

Three relay coils Ill, II and i2 are connected in parallel with supply lines I3 and I4, which are energized by electrical impulses, each impulse having an amplitude proportional to the quantity to be recorded by the counter. An impulse generator for producing such impulses is described in my aforementioned Patent No. 2,474,156. The coils have a different number of turns, the coil 1| having more turns than the coil I3, and the coil I2 more turns than the coil I I, so that for -a Weak'impulse the armature I5 of the coil i0 will be moved against the action of its spring I6, while with a stronger impulse, in addition to the armature I being moved, the armature Il of the coil II will be moved against its spring I8, while for a still stronger impulse the armatures I5 and and the armature IS associated with the coil I2, will also be moved against the action of the spring '23. It will be noted that all the armatures are connected by a conductor 2| with a finger 22 iiXed to a shaft 23 driven from an electric motor 24. The armatures carry contacts 25, 25 and 2l respectively, which cooperate with xed contacts 23, 29 and 35, which are connected by conductors 3|, 32, 33, with brushes 34, 35, 36 which engage commutator rings 31, 38 and 3S. The commutator rings are electrically connected with studs 45, 4| and 42, mounted on an insulated disc 43 carried by said shaft 23. The shaft 23 is coupled to the motor shaft through an electromagnetic clutch 44 which -is capable of slipping when the shaft 23 is held. The contact studs 40, 4| and 42 are spaced 90 degrees apart on the disc 43, and during rotation are successively engaged by spring-pressed contact members 45, 46 and 4l and 4B. These contact members are carried by a bracket 3l and connected respectively by conductors 49, 5t, 5I and 52, to one end of the coils 53, 54, 55 and 56. The other ends of these coils are connected by a common conductor 5l to a line 58 leading to one side of a source of supply 59.

The other side of the battery is connected by a conductor 5B with the armatures Si, 62, 63 and 64 of the respective coils 53, 54, 55, 55. These 'armatures are arranged to swing into and out of the path of movement of the finger 22, which, it will be remembered, is connected with each of .the aforesaid contacts 25, 26 and 2l. Thus, assuming the parts of the apparatus have stopped in the position shown in the drawing, and an impulse is received from the inputs I3 and I4 sui'licient only to close the contacts 25, 28, then .the only circuit to be energised will be 3|, 34', 31, `4I), 45, 49, 53, 5l, 58, 59, 5I), 6I, 22, 2i and I5. Thus, the armature 5| will be moved out of the path of the nger 22, enabling the motor to rotate the iinger into contact with the unmoved armature B2. Assuming the incoming impulse has in Ithe meantime ceased, the nger will remain in 1' contact with the armature 62. This movement will have resulted in the contact 4&1 moving away from 45 and coming opposite 46. Thus, should another single impulse be received the new circuits made will comprise 3|, .34, 31, 40, 46, 50, coil 54, 51, 58, 59, 6B, 62, 22, 2| and I5. Thus, it will be seen that in each case a single step movement of the shaft 23 of identical extent will have been made. The shaft is connected through suitable gearing 65, 66 to a counter 51 and a single step movement of the shaft turns the counter by one digit.

Assuming now, in the position of the parts shown in the drawing, that the incoming impulse is sufficiently strong to energise both the relays I0 and Il, two circuits will be energised in parallel, the circuit rst referred to above and the circuit 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 46, 5U, 54, 5l, 58, 59, Eil, 5I, 22, 2| and I1. Thus, both the coils 53, and 54 are`energised, both armatures move out of the path of movement of the nger 22 which comes to rest against the armature 53, whereby the shaft 23 is rotated twice the amount than that for a single unit. The contact 4Q will now be opposite the contact Maud thus the coil 55 Will Ybe the rst to be energised when next an impulse has been received.

Assuming a triple amplitude impulse is received when the parts are in the position shown in the figure, the coils 53, 54 and '55 will be energised, and the nger will then come to rest against the armature E4.

Assuming the controlling impulses are of comparatively short duration (they must necessarily be shorter than the time required for the i-lnger 22 to move between two adjacent armatures) it may be that the second or third pair of contacts '26 and 2S or 2l and 30, will have again separated .before the nger has had time to pass the armatures of the coils 54 and 55. Thus, associated .with the coils 53, 54, 55 and 5S are holding coils 6B, 59, 15 and 1I. It will be noted that one end of each of these coils is connected with the line 58, leading to the battery 59, while the other ends are connected respectively through conductors 1I, 72, 73 and i4 Withbrushes 15, '16, 'I'I and I8 which engage a commutator disc 'I9 mounted on the shaft 23 and having a comparatively small gap or insulating segment 89. The commutator 7S is connected through the shaft 23 with the reverse side of the battery 59 to which the first said ends of the coils B8, 53, lll, 'II are connected. The commutator segment 85 is so disposed on the disc that it enages one of the last-mentioned brushes shortly before the nger 22 reaches an armature associated with that particular coil. Aside from the insulating gap 88,

the remaining part of the commutator dise 'I9 is .conductive and conductively continuous with the shaft 23'. The holding circuits for the solenoids are therefore all normally energised and the insulating seg-ment performs the function of .breaking the holding circuit of each solenoid after the ringer 22 has passed the corresponding armature 6|, 62, 63, or 64 soas to reset the armature. The holding coils are not alone sufficient to move the armatures from their datum position, but it will be noted that the circuits are such that when each main coil is energised a part of the current will also iiow through the associated holding coil which will maintain the armature out of the path of movement of the nger v43, should the commutator segment 80 by then have reached the appropriate brush. Thus, the size of the commutator segment 8B is selected in accordance with the duration of the impulse so that it is in engagement with a succeeding brush by the time the impulse is nished. The appara- -tus is particularly suitable for recording impulses set up by the .passage of bank-notes with metallic strip threads therein, past a responsive device, as described in United States patent application Serial No. 586,333 led April 3, 1945, now Patent No. 2,474,156. In such an apparatus, if two bank-notes pass the responsive device simultaneously, so that the two threads are opposite one another, the amplitude of the impulse set up will be double that when a single note passes the responsive device. I'he apparatus above described will allow of three bank-notes passing simultaneously with their threads over one another. Assuming, however, that the threads are not one over the other, but are arranged side by side, the length of the impulse will be greater than for a single bank-note, although it will be of the same amplitude. Thus, an impulse of this kind will require to operate two of the armatures associated with the aforesaid finger 22. For this purpose, the rate of rotation of the shaft 23 is such that by the time that a contact on the disc 43 has reached a position in which it is opposite another contact on the bracket 51, the double impulse is still persisting, whereby two of the armatures associated with the nger 22 are operated.

I claim:

1. A counting device of the class described which is adapted tobe responsive to electrical impulses of different amplitudes so as to add a number proportional to the amplitude of the impulse, and comprising a counter and a discriminator having a number of responsive devices adapted to be subjected simultaneously7 to the same electrical impulse, said discriminator being so constructed and arranged that different ones of said responsive devices become operative at different minimum impulse strengths, said responsive devices comprising electromagnets controlling said counter and having different resistanoes, means for connecting said electromagnets in parallel with the means for generating said impulse, a rotatable driving shaft for said counter, means for rotating said shaft and means operated by said responsive devices for arresting the rotation of said shaft after predetermined amounts of angular movement so that for different impulse strengths the extent of movement imparted to said counter is determined by that of the responsive devices which would not have become operative should the particular impulse have been substantially weaker, whereby the extent of rotation is proportional to the impulse strength.

2. A counting apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for rotating the shaft for the counter comprises a motor and in which a slipping clutch is operatively disposed between the motor and said driving shaft.

3. A counting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for rotating the driving shaft for the counter comprises a motor and a slipping clutch is operatively disposed between the motor and said driving shaft, and wherein said driving shaft is provided with a linger or the like; wherein the arresting mea-ns comprise abutments each movable into the path of travel of said finger by electromagnetic means, which abutments and electromagnetic means are one more in number than the responsive devices; and wherein the magnetic means are connected with an equal number of evenly-spaced brushes or the like fixed against rotation with the shaft, and engaging a commutator member rotating with said shaft, which commutator member has the same number of contacts as said responsive devices, but which are disposed apart at the same angle as the aforesaid brushes, which contacts are connected through slip-rings and brushes, each with a pair of contacts controlled by one of said electromagnetic responsive means, and thence to a source of supply through switch means which are arranged to be closed when the linger engages an abutment.

4. A counting machine according to claim 3, wherein each electromagnetic means is provided with a holding coil which is placed in circuit with supply means through a second commutator rotating with the driving shaft of the counter, which second commutator is provided with a number of equally-spaced brushes or the like connected with the respective electromagnetic means, and a conducting segment or the like so disposed and of such a size that it connects the appropriate holding coil in circuit with the source of supply after the finger has moved away from one abutment and shortly before it is about to engage with another abutment.

5. A counting apparatus adapted to receive electric impulses of different amplitudes representing a number of different numerical values to be counted, comprising a plurality of conductors each corresponding to one of said different numerical values, means for supplying a momentary electrical impulse to each of said conductors only on reception of an impulse representing a numerical value equal to or greater than that to which said conductor corresponds, a rotatable member, uni-directional driving means for said member, a plurality of releasable stop devices positioned for arresting said member in a plurality of equi-spaced positions in the rotational movement thereof, the number of said stop devices being greater than the number of said conductors, electromagnetic means for releasing said stop devices, rotary distributing switch means driven by said rotary member for operatively connecting said conductors to said electromagnetic means in cyclic order advancing synchronouslv with the rotation of said member, holding means for said electromagnetic means and means responsive to the rotation of said member for releasing each of said electromagnetic means after said rotary member has passed the rotational position thereof corresponding to said electromagnetic means.

LASZLO NAMENYI-KA'IZ.

VREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,544,860 Reisbach July 7, 1925 1,744,259 Carlson Jan. 21, 1930 2,150,776 Moles Mar. 14, 1939 2,181,728 Greentree Nov. 28, 1939 2,237,153 Neumann-Lezius Apr. 1, 1941 

